Birmingham Post-Herald from Birmingham, Alabama • 9

Itiniiiiiliaiu INsI-Morale! Saturday May 31 1986 Reaching the end of your rope WDBB makes impact in Birmingham Although WDBB had been on the air for over a year nobody in Birmingham even noticed it until last December But that changed quickly when it was learned the small Tuscaloosa station was the only one in the area holding the rights to the Aloha Bowl Eventually WBRC also bought the rights to the Alabama-USC game when WDBB failed to complete a proposed tower that would enable Birmingham residents to watch the station's programs PAUL FINEBAUM 1 1 1 i 4 i i James Stillman fiddles with some bask equipment A rookie rappeller finds fear is more imagined than actual Looking over the precipice I saw the Jagged rocks 80 feet below and knew that one slip would surely mean a broken body for me and a quick visit with my Maker Why would anyone want to Jump off the side of an 10-foot mountain with nothing but a skinny rope to prevent his sure demise? he seeking thrills lacking sanity iflurra foundthat none of the above true Rappelling provides the opportunity to face fear and conquer it Fear no matter what form it takes makes cowards out of strong men Rappelling performed not ft anyone else to watch or to gain any prize or obtain any medals other than the self-satisfaction that comes from learning to deal with yourself under a stressful situation Today the tower is looking up and apparently so are the fortunes of the Tuscaloosa station Althoagh the station makes a decent effort In its news coverage it lags behind the Birmingham station However it is making strides in the arm of sports One advantage being so dose to the University of Alabama However WDBB also aggressive in the Birmingham area On any given night you might find a report on the Barons or the Stallions This week they had a feature on the Charley Boswell Last week they were in town to interview Yankees star Britt Burns about hb hip surgery WDBB should take on a larger presence next fall According to David DuBose the statioa's general manager and part-owner WDBB will be the only area station showing the Ray Perkins television show I understand it we have the exclusive contract for it in Birmingham" said -DuBose guess you could say we're moving into some of their (Channel 8) market We're establishing ourselves as a regional market" It helps WDBB that Perkins' show produced at the station Still WDBB has enjoyed so much success with the Alabama coach some in the community have speculated Perkins must have a financial position in the station lot of people have accused us of that said DuBose it just isn't Emory Folmar the mayor of Montgomery heads a long list of investors who have bet on the station's success They've had some setbacks though WDBB lost a recent skirmish with Channel 6 for the rights to the Kickoff Classic featuring Alabama and Ohio Stab However DuBose said Channel 8 had to spend so much for it I just don't see how it will be DuBose said the response to the station in Birmingham has been very positive The station's general manager said they will continue to stress sports coverage "Well show some college games next year that others in the market won't have" said DuBose "We feel we need to have an identity in the market to do things the other folks don't expect us to There were also some rumors last December that WDBB was close to signing Herb Winches the former Channel 6 sportsc aster talked to Herb on a number of said DuBose "Obviously Herb a very big name We were not able to come to any type of agreement But we still anticipate working with Herb on some sports specials in the future" DuBose said WDBB will run the new program Winches is syndicating in the fall called Bat DuBose has little to worry about as far as sports anchors Gus Hergert the station's sports director does a very good job in that role He is clearly the best of three people on the station's 9 pm news His straight-up easy-going delivery a nice switch He doesn't bore the viewer with a lot of inane comments And Hergert not afraid to try something different Recently he worked in Dale pit during the Winston 500 Please tarn to FINEBAUM page B3 II Strpm Gain Going over the edge of a cliff for the first time isn't nearly os difficult as writer John Phillips expected JOHN PHILLIPS OUTDOORS And when someone asked me do you want to rappel off the sheer face of a mountain?" the answer required some soul-searching on my part I enjoy new experiences and opportunities to barn about sports with which I am unfamiliar To be quite honest 1 feared the sport of rappelling But my wise brother once gave me a motto to live by and that to attack your fears and conquer them So that was my reason for wanting to rappeL I think every sportsman in hb own heart develops some internal goal that causes him to want to do more climb higher descend deeper and walk on the Jagged edge of life However rappelling like any sport should begin with proper instruction from highly qualified people with the very best equipment possible Having no experience in this sport I went to Alabama Outdoors in Brook wood Mall and met Janies Stillman Stillman learned hb skilb from a school In North Carolina and has been practicing the sport of rappelling for many years "There are two sports related to rocks and rock Stillman explained "The first called rock climbing and involves climbing from the bottom of a rock to the top The second called rappelling which a method of descending from the top of a rock to the bottom of the rock by means of a rope a harness a couple of double-locking karabiners ana a piece of metal called a figure eight Although rock climbing appears to be the more dangerous id the two sports there are more accidents related to rappelling The reason for the accidents in rappelling that many times the climbers have the proper equipment they fail to check out their anchor points or they try to rappel too quickly But if the sport practiced properly it a safe fun activity for all ages1- I mast admit wbei I walked out to the edge of the over hang on Shades Mountain eased my feet off the edge and began to lower my body down the rope there that was more than a moment's concern about my safety However once halfway down the rope while dangling in mid-air held between heaven and earth by nothing but a strong rope and the knowledge that 1 had learned from Stillman 1 discovered a confidence in the equipment I was using and my own ability that 1 hadn't expected While lowering myself down the rope I learned that I could control my own destiny and rely on the equipment The fear I had experienced at the top of the mountain was more imagined than actual When I reached the bottom of the rope and unsnapped the karabiners I had a new confidence a new courage and a new desire to rappel Three more trips down the rope convinced me that rappelling has something to offer for every one at each age Please turn to RAPPELLING page B3 Green7 is the color for today's Indy 500 Rick Mean the record-setting pole-winner said would have been green on Sunday If you remember right it rained between (the practice on) Thursday and Sunday It was green then It make a darn bit of difference between then and Just have to take it a little said defending champion Danny Sullivan who will start next to Mean in the middle i the front row track will be green everybody will be a little green It will make everybody be a little more calm at the beginning It will make them settle down and get into the cars which qualified at an average speed of 210279 mph on a 2 Vi -mile oval that has not seen any serious action since May 23 the final full-scale practice session The $3 million race was washed away last Sunday and again on Monday before track officials faced with prospects id continuing bad weather made the unprecedented choice of postponing the race until today The forecast for partly sunny skies with a 20 percent chance of wide scattered thundershowers which would have no more than a temporary impact on the race Temperatures are expected in the low 80s The inactivity has left the asphalt track without much rubber in the racing groove The rubber laid down by the wide slick race tires can help the cars adhere to the track It can also slow them down real dean what we call a green A1 Unser Jr said following 30-mlnute warmup practice limited to 120 mph That coeditioa eould caase problems particularly at the start when the cars are running close together the turbuiance from their ground effects aerodynamics giving the drivers more to think about than Just staying out id each way 1 Aaociittd Pm INDIANAPOLIS A green flag what everyone waiting for A green track what the drivers are going to get today in the twice-delayed Indianapolis 500 Even the driven may be a little green after a six-day layoff Everyone from the 33 starters to ABC which will again try to send to millions of homes the first live telecast id the world's richest race to the expected crowd of up to 350000 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway will breath a collective sigh when the Migines roar to life at 10 am CST A green flag will also put the rocket-like D'Amato testifies in the 'New York Conspiracy7 phase of trial Corporation Tese had testified Thursday that he too had been led to believe the Jeta would return In hb letter however Hess spelb out hb objections to the UDC's plan for a stadium to be built by Donald Trump owner of the USFL New Jersey Generals The letter was dated last Jan 16 and addressed to New York Gov Mario Cuomo and Mayor Edward I Koch Hess Hid he was particularly annoyed by the provision that up to 50 percent of the-- seats would be sold on a condominium basis real ongoing But D'Amato Mid that changed in a con-venation last January just before the Feb 1 deadline Hess bad imposed on state and city offictab to come up with a workable plan for a new stadium indicated very clearly he was not coming D'Amato Hid Hess' reasons for rejecting New offer were in the letter introduced by NFL attorney Robert Fiske during his cross-examination of Vincent Tese chairman of New York's Urban Development tions and one meeting with Hess in which he was led to believe that the Jets might return The first came In 1983 when the Jets left Shea Stadium in Querns for Giants Stadium in the New Jersey Meadowlands 7 miles from midtown Manhattan "He testified of Hess would be happy to come back and that thb was not necessarily a permanent Then in the spring of 1985 talked to Hess again Mid be did want to pursue getting the Jets back to New York" testified was led to believe that this was a D'Amato was called as a witness by the USFL in its $15 billion antitrust suit against the NFL Hb testimony was part of the USFL's attempt to prove a York Con-' by NFL to keep a USFL team out of New York by holding out the prospect of the Jets' return However was severely limited in bis testimony by US District Judge Peter Leisure who ruled that he could talk only about instances where he had dealt personally with the move said he had two phone conversa NEW YORK Sen Alfonse R-IY testified yesterday in the USFL-NFL ntitrust case that he had been led to elieve last summer there was a good hance the New York Jets would return to lew York City from New Jersey The NFL meanwhile introduced a letter i which owner Leon Hess informed lew York offictab that their stadium plan rai unacceptable because it would force nany of hb team's fans to pay from $2500 112000 just to-obtain the right to buy.